Pressure regulator



Nov. 13, 192s.

L.. H. F. Rol-1E ET A1.

PRE S SURE REGULATOR Filed April 30. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet H73 www Nov.13, 1928.

L. H. F. ROHE ET AL PRESSURE REGULATOR Filed April 30. 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov.. 13, 19,28.

uniresr ,rear ferries.

LoUIs n. F. Roan Ann SAMUEL nenn, or Minenno orrx, Taxes. assrenons orcnn FOURTH T JOHANNES ll. ROBE, OF MRAND() ,C'lYr, TEX/(3S.

rnnssunn YnnGULAron'.

Application filed Apri-1730, 1925. Serial No 105,791.

This invention relatesto pressure regula-k tors and has 'for its primaryobject the provision of an automatic apparatus whereby natural gas orother fluid flowingfrom a source of supply under varying' pressure maybe delivered at a point of use at a uniform pressure. The invention alsoseeks to provide a simple means whereby 1n its passage to the point ofuse the gas will be relieved of.

impurities, and a further object ofthe inven- `tion is to provide novelmeans whereby the flow ofthe gas will be automatically cut-ofil or setup as the pressure varies. All thesey stated objects, and other objectswhich will incidentally appear hereinafter, are attained in such anapparatus as is illustrated 1n the.

accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which will be vparticularlyY pointed out in the appendedclaims.

Inthe drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of oneembodiment of our invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlargedlvertical section' of the valve; Q

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section of Fig. 6 is an elevationshowing a further l adaptation of the invention.

In carrying out our invention, we employ a tank or reservoir 1 which isopen at its upper end and is filled with water or some similar fluid, asindicated at 2, to a level near its Aupper end. Fitting loosely in theupper open end of the tank or reservoir lis a bell 3 open at its lowerend and closed at its upper end, the external diameter ofthe bell beingsomewhat less than the internal diameter of the tank so that the bellmay operate freely in the tank and the liquid in the tank will form aVseal to prevent escape of gas through the space between the tank andthe bell. The bell is provided at itsvtop with laterally extending guidearms 4 which may be the ends of a cross bar, as shown in Fig. 1, andthese guides loosely engage standards 5 erected at the sides of the tankso Ithat the bell will be held to a rectilinear path in its verticalmovements.v

in sockets 6 provided therefor upon the inlet The lower ends of thestandards 5A may be iixed in the ground or 'may be seated Vpipe A7andthe outlet pipe Siespectively.

The inlet pipe 7 extends ,from the source of supply into the tank 1 atthe bottomjthereof and is coupled to an upright branch 9 with- 1n thetank. To the upper end of the branch 9 isA secured a U coupling orreturn bend 10 from which a nozzle 11 depends to a point below the waterlevel. rlhe outlet pipe` 8 leads to the engine or other point of usethrough the wall of the tank 1 atvthe bottom thereof and the gas isadmitted into the outlet pipe 8 througha vertical branch 12 which'extends upwardly in the tank to a point above the water supply and ispreferably equipped with a lateral inlet nozzle 13. It will bereadilynoted that the gas flowing. through the inlet pipe 7 will rise throughthe pipe or branch 9 and be delivered Awithin the body of liquid belowthe level thereof. The gas will, f l

of course, rise to and above the surface of the water and willaccumulate in the bell 3, the pressure of the gas tending to lift thebell so that, if the inflow is greater than the out- 4flow 'through thenozzlellS, the bell will rise.l

As the pressure ofthe gas decreases, thebell will, of course, descend bygravity and will therebymaintain a uniform-'pressure upon the outflowinggas. If the weight of the bell in itself is not sufficient to keep theoutflow-l ing gas under a uniform predetermined presf sure, anyconvenientform of weight may be placed upon the top of the securedthereto. v I l The inlet pipe 7 has a vertically extending portion 14adjacent the tank 1, as shown clearbell o r otherwise ly in Fig. 1, andabove the said upright por? tion is equipped with a hand-controlled cutyi oft' valve 15 whereby the iiow of gas may be entirely arrested whendesired.

ume. Fitted in the vertical branch 14 below the upperend thereof is anautomatic cut-oi or regulating valve, indicated at 16. L This valve ispreferably ofA a well-known tapered turning plug type and we providemeans whereby the plug will beturned to cut-oft' or permit the inflow ofgas automatically by the ascent or descent of the bell-.3. For this pur#pose, a rod 17 is secured at its upper end to the top of the bell and isconstructed at its lower end to s lidably engage the adjacent standard5, as indicated at 18. Atproper points upon this'rod are ab'utments 19which may be stop collars or rings adjustably held upon therodObviously, also, this valve may be adjusted so as to keep .T .themaximum ilow to a' predetermined volin any approved manner. Looselyengaged around the rod 17 between the said abutments is an eye 20provided at the upper end of a link 21 which depends from the eye andhasits lower end pivotedl to a lever 22. As shown most clearly in Fig.l3, the lever consists of two similar members each having a laterallyextending portion 23 and an end portion`24, the

end portions being disposed in parallelism and the two members being soarranged that together they constitute a yoke spanning the casingof thelvalve 16. The terminals. of the.

end portions24are pivoted on thel trunnions or stemsQo the turning plug26 which conlever and the yoke respectively,` as clearlyr shown.Assuming `the parts to be in the Vposi- 1 tion shown in Figs. 1 and'2,it the lever 22 be swung downwardly, the springs 2S will be placedunder increased tension, asY the lever passes vto and into alinementwith the yoke 27.

`When thelever passes below the pointv of alinement with the yoke, thesprings at once contract and pull the yoke down and hold the lever andyo re inthe lowered position, the

descent of the yoke opening the valve which will remain open untilreverse action of the l yoke takes place. To limit the movements of` thelever andthe yoke so that the-turning plug fof the valve will come torest in either the -fully opened or the fully closedposition, we providestop arms 29 and 30 which are carried by the yoke 27 and the leverrespectively, the stop arm V30 being mounted upon a cross bar 31 whichextends between the end portions 24 of the lever. In the ends ot these`stop arms are -abutments '32 which may convenientlybe set screws, asshown, so that they may b e easily adjusted to insure the desiredoperation. i

To hold the tapered plug properly seated in the valve casing, we providea coiled spring 33 which is secured at one end to the larger end of thevalve casing and at its opposite end 'to one side of the yoke 27,' asshown most clearly 'in Fig. 3. The tension of this spring Will beexerted longitudinally of the plug against the smaller end thereof sothat the binding-or wedging of thel plug in the casing will 4becounteracted althoughV the plug will be` held properlyvfseated toprevent leakage. The desired results can, of course, easily be obtainedby employing a spring of the proper tension or strength. Y i i AssumingtheV gas to be-entering'the tank at a higher pressure or more rapidlythan it is escaping through the nozzle 13 and the outlet pipe 8, the gaswill obviously accumulate within the bell 3 and will cause the Sametorise. The abutment rod 17 will, follow the movement of the bell and, asa result of the 19 will eventually be brought into contact with the eye20 so as to exert an upward pull lupon the link 21 and rock'the lever 22up! wardly.y rThe upward movement of the lever will Yeliiect rotation ofthe valve to cut-off the low of gas and through contact ot the abut v iment screws or stops 32 with the upper end of the valvecasing will checkthe ascent of the bell. The infiow of gas 'being thus cut-off, theweight ot the bell will be exerted against the Yvolume of gas thereinsoas to drive the same the lever 22 will be rocked downwardly andVupward travel of the bell, the lower abutment i the valve 16 opened, asabove des `3ribedv whereupon the gasmay again flow into the Y bell orholder. Vlt will thus be seen that we have provided a very simpleapparatus which will operate automaticallyto efficiently control thepressure otgas delivered for use.

The invention is not limited, to the regulation of pressure in inflowingiiuid but may be employed to serve vas an automatic vent for accumulatedpressure in al storage system, or

as ay safety. valve. In the oil lields, crude Voil is stored in Vlargetanks, and there is always" moreor less gas accumulating at the'top ofthe tank. If the tanks are left open,thereiis a very appreciabler lossof oil through evaporation to prevent which itis common practice tobuild the tanks with tightly closed tops'and providea safetyvalvetherein to relieve exf cessive gas pressure. Our device can be emfployed for this purpose and will accommodate. any desired pressureVdepending on the height of the tank and bell, the water level v inthetank, and the weight placed onthe bell,

the arrangement being shown in Figs. 4v and 5. The tank and bell are ofthe same conn struction as shown in Fig. 1 and before described, but`the pipe 44 which is --in the same relation to the tank as the pipe 14is-open to the atmosphere, instead of vbeing equipped with a cutoffvalve 15. The pipe 8 is connected with the top of the oil storage tank(not shown). The valve 16 is 'fitted'in the pipe 44 near the lower endthereof and is reversed,relative to the-arrangement in Fig. 1, so thatitis closed when the bell is down. The actuating rod 17 isr the same asthat previouslydescribed but the link 41 is longer ythan the link 21 toaccommodate the lower location of the valve. As the pressure builds upin the storage tank,- the gas flows through the pipe :8V into ythe bell3 and raises the same, eventually bringing the lower abutment 19 intoengagement with the linkA 41 to lift the lever 22 and open thevalve,lpermitting the excess gas to escape to the open air. Of

izo

course, the bell then descends and ultimately Y the valve will be againclosed. v

The arrangement shown in Fig. 6 is the same as that shown in' Fig. 1except that a vsecond valve 6l, reversed relative to the valve 16, isfitted in the pipe 14 near the lower end of the same. A third abutment.62' is secured upon the rod 17 below the lower abutment 19, and a link63 extends from the lever 64 of the valve to engage the rod 17 below theabutment 62. The valve 61 is normally open and the end of the link 63 isbelow the normal Y lower limit of the travel of the bell and theabutments. If, for any reason, the inflow or` supply of gas shouldcease, the decrease in the pressure would be so great that the bellwould drop far enough to bring the abutmentV of fire due to the stopcock at the point of use.

being left open while the pressure is oli".

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. In a gas-regulating apparatus, a gas supply pipe, aout-0E valve inthegas supply pipe, a lever terminating in a yoke spanning the valve andmounted for rocking movement about the axis thereof, means for rockingsaid lever, a yoke disposed at the opposite side of the valve fromfthelever and connected with the valve, and a tension spring 'extendingbetween and attached to said yoke and the lever whereby to yieldablyvmaintain the lever in its raisedor lowered position. and hold the valveClosed or opened.

2. In a gas-regulating apparatus, a gas supply pipe, a cut-off valve inthe gas supply pipe, a lever mounted or rocking movement aboutthe axisof the valve, meansv for rocking said lever, a yoke disposed lat theopposite side of the valve from the lever and secured to the valve, atension spring extending between andfattached to said yoke and the leverwhereby to yieldably maintain the lever in its raised or loweredposition and hold the valve l closed or opened, vand stop elementscarried by the yoke and the lever to check the movements of the same ineither direction.

ln testimony whereof we allix -our signatures.

LOUIS H. F.Y ROHE. [1.. s] SAMUELv ROHE. [n s]

